DJ Of The Week: DJ Infamous

DJ Infamous reigns supreme in Richmond, incorporating his various affiliations and 16 years of experience to promote good music.This Bum Squad DJ stays busy working on new mixtapes, working with independent artists and even working on entrepreneurial endeavors.He tells HipHopWired how he got his start, why they call him the Club Record Breaker and how he plans to revamp V-A’s tarnished music scene.

Origin: Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Current Location: Richmond, Virginia

Top Ten Playlist:

1.) Cassidy f.Swizz Beats- Henny and Bacardi

2.) Travis Porter-Go Shorty Go(Prod By Dj Spinz)

3.) Ludacris- How Low(Prod By T-Minus)

4.) JD Era -You Know This(Prod By Beat Merchant)

5.) Maino-Get’Em Tiger (Prod By The Colleagues)

6.) Lil Jon f.R.Kelly and Mario- Miss Chocolate

7.) Juelz Santana f.Yelawolf-Mixing Up The Medicine (Prod By KaneBeatz)

8.) Trillville-Every City We Go (Prod By jCOOP)

9.) Red Rum- Come On

10.) Dj Khaled f.Ludacris,Rick Ross,T-Pain,Snoop Dogg- All I Do Is Win

HipHopWired: Tell me a little about how you got started DJing.

DJ Infamous: I got started when my partner introduced me to turn tables one day before playing basketball. He got me interested and I got on one day and started playing with a record and from that point on I always wanted to get on it and get with it.

HipHopWired: How long ago was that?

DJ Infamous: I was about 13. I’mma be honest I had my first record player when I was 3.

HipHopWired: And how many years ago was that? How long have you been DJing?

DJ Infamous: Well I started when I was 13, I’m going on 29. You could say 16 years.

HipHopWired: Okay. So have you DJed at any of the radio stations up there in Richmond?

DJ Infamous: I used to do a lot of work at Power 92 with my man Swerve Dinero , I used to come in and chill with him and DJ Boom at the time.

HipHopWired: Right. So where do you DJ now? Clubs?

DJ Infamous: I DJ at Sky Lounge but basically anywhere. I’m mainly at Sky Lounge on the weekends. Any other time I’m not here I’m in another state DJing, New York, Florida wherever. Other than Sky Lounge, maybe Escape. Either that or at club functions, teen parties, I do it all.

HipHopWired: Are you affiliated with any DJ crews?

DJ Infamous: Yes I am. I’m affiliated with the Bum Squad DJs. One of the newest DJ crews in the Mid-Atlantic.

HipHopWired: Okay, so tell me how you got started working with them.

DJ Infamous: It was the power of Twitter actually, I was a part of Coast to Coast but due to the fact that they weren’t family oriented, and weren’t doing anything for the DJs, I linked up with some people on Twitter. They took notice of my skills and kept listening to me on my internet radio station Mixupradio.com. The word went from one person to DJ Lex in New York, he’s one of the regional managers and he called and gave me the contacts to Tracklator in Maryland and from that point on I was introduced to every Bum Squad DJ on a conference call. There was 300 of us on the phone. HipHopWired: Wow, so there’s 300 of y’all and you’re spread throughout the U.S.? DJ Infamous: All throughout the globe. There’s Latty Prince, DJ Giga Hertz, DJ Lex, DJ Mystah, DJ Boo Man who does most of the Baltimore Club Mixes. It’s big. *Laughs*

HipHopWired: I see. *Laughs* Tell me what you think about people calling DJs the new age A&Rs. I mean you guys are the ones breaking songs and if it’s not hot you don’t play it, so you guys can really bump up an artist and break them in the industry. What do you think about getting that title?

DJ Infamous: It needs to be done even more. DJs are key essentials to the streets to radio. We definitlyey need to be A&Rs. Not all of us but the ones that know music. I personally think we should be hired by these labels, we actually play the talent.

HipHopWired: So have you broken any artists?Are there any artists out there that you were the first to play?

DJ Infamous: Being that my nickname is the Club Record Breaker in VA , I break club records all the time I’m on turntables. *Laughs* I’ve taken a lot of records far and wide. I do this every time I get a chance.

HipHopWired: What was the last song you broke?

DJ Infamous: Here in Richmond I did Travis Porter, All The Way Turnt Up. No one knew who Travis Porter was and I broke it in October of this year. Next thing you know Travis Porter is big here now. It’s cool but I never understood what’s wrong with the music market here. I guess it’s because the DJs on the radio wait to see if it’s gonna happen. You can’t wait, especially with music from Atlanta you gotta play it. I play it, wanna play it before it becomes a hit.

HipHopWired: Right and I’ve been hearing a lot of complaints from Virginia about how there are a lack of artists that really break out from there. I mean there’s Timbaland, Missy, The Clipse and of course Chris Brown but can you think of someone that’s coming up next to put Virginia on the map?

DJ Infamous: Chris Brown is one of my boys. Him and Dre are cool they did their thing. My man Red Rum might be the next big thing. He’s signed to DJ Khaled’s label We Da Best. Other than Red Rum honestly in the whole state of Virginia, there’s a lot of artist that have great talent but they need that exposure. They need a DJ or a few DJs to really get behind them and push them. Down here in Richmond a group called the R City Boys, they seem to be next.

DJ Infamous: I got put on by a good friend and from there it’s been an ongoing thing. My show is Tuesday and Thursday nights from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. The station is more of a reggae station. Quickdraw plays a lot of R&B for a couple of hours and switches it up with Reggae Soca. Me, I handle all the Hip-Hop and R&B. The other station I DJ is IDJTrade Z10 with my man Crazy Eddie down there

HipHopWired: Besides radio, I heard you’re doing your thing with Jive. How’d you get started working with them?

DJ Infamous: My partner Music Jones, I linked up with him through Twitter and we just started going back and forth. He told me he was Archie Eversoles manager and I said, “Wow.” So I told him whatever he needs from me I got him. Right now we’re working on getting Archie up here but as well we’re doing a mixtape here that’s gonna be on your site, on HipHopWired. I’m doing the mixtape, The Streets To The Suites. It’s gonna be kind of big, it’s got me excited. I feel blessed to be part of it.

HipHopWired: Besides the mixtape for us are you working on any other mixtapes on the side?

DJ Infamous: I’m doing a mixtape with my partner Looney Tunes, I got In Da Streets Volume 11 hosted by Tony Moxburg from Jersey. I got a Virginia State of Emergency, it’s gonna be all Virginia artists hosted by partner Sean Archer. I have too many projects. *Laughs*

HipHopWired: Tell me more about the Dirty Dozen Squad. Is that like an entertainment company you have going on?

DJ Infamous: Yeah that’s an entertainment company based in Richmond. My partner P-Funk from Connecticut it’s his LLC. We do functions from here up to Connecticut. It’s a big thing, right now we’re trying to regroup and revamp. We do parties, clubs and special events.

HipHopWired: Okay cool. So overall for the year what are your plans? Do you have an ultimate goal for the year?

DJ Infamous: One of my goals is next year is I’d like to be nominated for an SCA, I’m trying to do my thing with independent artists and break them in. Hopefully I’ll get an independent artist to a decent label. One of my R&B artists Janelle Nadine is in the talks with Interscope and my artist Misses is on the rise. I’m also working with Tex James from the Kadillac Boyz. Just really trying to break independent artists and giving them shine. If anything else happens to the point of getting like DJ Scream and DJ Drama I would greatly appreciate to be a figure for independent artists. Other than that, turn around the music scene in Richmond and V-A. I’m so sick people talking about DJs don’t play any new music and I’m trying to change the movement where people follow the DJ and not follow the people.

HipHopWired: Well I hope you can do it because y’all need some help down there……

DJ Infamous: I think a lot of people are now noticing it and everybody complains but if you follow a DJ that’s gonna play the music and give it to all night long and break new records. You need to go to a DJ that’s gonna play new music. I have all the mixtapes and I put it out in the streets myself. So if you can’t see me in the streets you can see me on the internet.

HipHopWired: That’s what’s up. Do you have any shoutouts you wanna give?

DJ Infamous: Yeah shout out to my drink Stunna Liquor.

HipHopWired: You have a drink?!

DJ Infamous: *Laughs* Yeah, my partner DH he’s one of the owners and JB out in California is the other one. Check out Drinkstunna.com. Shoutout to the Bum Squad DJs for putting me into the family, Dirty Dozen, mainly all my people. DJ Foot—Trey Songz DJ, Sir RJ, DJ Drake, DJ Casper in Baltimore. They really pulled me up. My partner Selecta Fabulous, he’s a reggae DJ. The main important people in the 804 that really helped me evolve and be who I am.

HipHopWired: Okay so do you have contact info for people looking to get in touch with you.